The Crime Is Mine (Mon crime) is a 2023 French crime comedy film directed by François Ozon, starring Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Rebecca Marder, Isabelle Huppert, Fabrice Luchini, Dany Boon and André Dussollier.
In 1935, Madeleine (Tereszkiewicz), a would-be actress, and Pauline, a beginner lawyer, live together in a small flat in Paris. Madeleine gets an appointment with Montferrand, a theatre producer, but when she goes to his villa, he tries to rape her. Madeleine escapes and gets back home. A bit later, a police officer rings the flat's bell and tells the two friends that Montferrand was murdered.
The Crime Is Mine provides examples of:
- Attempted Rape: When Madeleine refuses to become his mistress, Montferrand tries to rape her, but she manages to escape.
- Bathtub Scene: There is a scene where Madeleine and Pauline have a bath together in the same tub.
- Blackmail: Odette tries to blackmail Madeleine and Pauline. She demands money in exchange for keeping quiet about the fact that she is Montferrand's actual murderer.
- Brick Joke: During the trial, the public prosecutor says that his wife threatens to cut his throat because she thinks that he has a mistress. In the end, a newspaper clipping reveals that his wife actually cut his throat.
- Casting Couch: Montferrand, a theatre producer, invites Madeleine to his villa. He offers her a role in a play on condition that she becomes his mistress. She rejects his offer, so he tries to rape her.
- Casting Gag: Dany Boon, who is from Northern France and whose most famous role is a stereotyped Northerner in the film Welcome to the Sticks, plays a guy from Southern France with a thick Southern French accent.
- Clear My Name: Inverted. Madeleine did not commit the murder, but she tries to convince everybody she did, because the publicity of the trial will launch her career as an actress.
- Courtroom Antics: Madeleine regards her trial as a theatre play where she plays the leading part. She does not seem to take it very seriously even if she risks being sentenced to death. The whole sequence is comedic.
- Cranky Landlord: Madeleine and Pauline are late with the house-rent, and Pauline has to argue at length with the landlord to be allowed a respite.
- Fame Through Infamy: Instead of denying that Madeleine murdered Montferrand (which is the truth), the two friends claim she did it, leading to a string of good luck for the both of them: At the trial, Pauline manages to turn Madeleine into a feminist icon for murdering a rapist in self-defense, greatly helping both of their careers, while Palmarède, a rich architect who gained a lot of money from Montferrand's death, becomes Madeleine's friend and ally. All is well until the actual murderer shows up and threatens to blackmail them if they don't help her.
- The Film of the Play: The film is based on a 1934 theatre play by Georges Berr et Louis Verneuil.
- The Great Depression: The film is set in 1935. The tire factory of Bonnard is on the brink of bankruptcy because of the crisis.
- Homoerotic Subtext:
- Between Madeleine and Pauline, who live together and share the same bed. During the trial, Pauline claims that this is because they are poor and their flat is cold at night. Later they have a bath together.
- Between Pauline and Odette. The first time they meet, Odette mentions that Pauline is attractive.
- Killing in Self-Defense: Exploited by Madeleine. Madeleine did not commit the murder, but she claims that she did it in self-defense, because Montferrand was going to rape her.
- Law Procedural: A large part of the film is about the investigation of Rabusset, the examining magistrate, and the trial of Madeleine.
- Marriage of Convenience: André is in love with Madeleine, but he needs money, so he plans to marry a rich unattractive woman. He suggests that Madeleine would become his mistress. Subverted because he finally changes his plan.
- Monochrome Past: There are several Flashbacks in black and white. Other sequences in black and white are fantasy sequences.
- Parental Marriage Veto: André Bonnard is dating Madeleine but his father, a rich industrialist, wants nothing to do with her - especially once she becomes a notorious criminal. Madeleine manages to turn the situation around by getting Palmarède to invest in Bonnard's flailing tire company, while Odette reveals that Madeleine is innocent to Bonnard alone, who accepts to pay her a bunch of money and to get his son to marry Madeleine.
- Plot-Triggering Death: The murder of Montferrand triggers the events of the plot.
- Posthumous Character: Montferrand is murdered off-screen in the beginning of the film and he only appears in Flashbacks and fantasy sequences.
- Proscenium Reveal: In the end, we see Odette getting into Montferrand's villa and killing Montferrand who was assaulting Madeleine. Then it is revealed that it is the final scene of a theatre play in which Madeleine and Odette have leading roles.
- Sex for Services: Madeleine offers to have sex with Palmarède in exchange for the bailout of the Bonnard company. Palmarède rejects her offer, but still accepts to help her.
- Stacked Characters Poster: See the poster above. Madeleine and Pauline, the two main characters, are on top and bigger than the rest of the cast.
- Starving Artist: Madeleine is a would-be actress with no job. She risks being evicted from the little flat she rents with Pauline.
- Stern Old Judge: Daniel Prévost impersonates the stern old judge who presides over Madeleine's trial.
- Thematic Series: This film, 8 Women (2002) and Potiche (2010) form a trilogy of adapted theatre plays about the condition of women.
- White-Dwarf Starlet: Odette is still a somewhat famous actress, but her career has stalled since the rise of talking movies. Part of her deal with Madeleine and Pauline is to help her go back to the limelight.
